Friday, 8 April 2016

#plaque366 Jack Buchanan

April 2016 is Music Month on The Daily Constitutional!A London commemorative plaque for every day in 2016.

The plaques are selected from all walks of life, and all points of the London compass – and I'm taking requests too!DROP ME A LINE or leave a comment below if you'd like to nominate a plaque for inclusion in the seriesCommemorating A British Showbiz Legend in Mount Street W1

From the long British stage tradition of Actor-Management – a tradition that includes Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Donald Wofitt among many plaque-worthy others – Jack Buchanan was both star and producer of his many London shows. Despite having started out as an actor, however, the cornerstone of Buchanan’s legend is his work as a song-and-dance man. Buchanan wowed audiences both here in London and from Hollywood where he was often cast as the epitome of the English gentleman – this despite being a born Scot!

Haling from Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland, one of Buchanan’s lesser-known achievements was in funding the most famous project of his fellow Helensburgher, John Logie Baird.

Here in London Jack Buchanan ran the Garrick Theatre and was a mover and shaker (not, this time, in a dancing sense) behind the building of the Leicester Square Theatre. His career spanned both the eras of silent and talking pictures and his most widely acclaimed movie remains the 1953 musical Band Wagon, in which he starred with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse.

Here he is in action…

Find Mount Street here…

With the launch of The Rolling Stones Walk on the 5th May 2016 and the return of the Rock'n'Roll London Pub walk on Wednesday nights from the 4th May 2016 the London Walks summer programme 2016 will feature no less than FIVE regular musical-themed walking tours.

To mark the occasion, April isMusic Month on The Daily Constitutional!

A month of plaques, locations, facts, reviews and more lies ahead. And I'm compiling the Ultimate London Playlist – get in touch with your favourite London song or piece!

A
London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your
guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all
London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.